EA - "Single-Player Dead Space Games Were Too Scary"

[Qbah]

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Scary was the best part of Dead Space...

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/ea-single-player-dead-space-games-were-too-scary/

 

[Dankk]

I can maybe see Dead Space being scary if you're 15 years old.

Granted, that's probably EA's target audience, so it works.

Looks like the Dead Space series is slowly turning into a Cawadooty-style bro-op shooter. It's only natural I guess. FEAR 1-3 made that exact same progression (or de-progression).

 

[Qbah]

I can maybe see Dead Space being scary if you're 15 years old.

Granted, that's probably EA's target audience, so it works.

Looks like the Dead Space series is slowly turning into a Cawadooty-style bro-op shooter. It's only natural I guess. FEAR 1-3 made that exact same progression (or de-progression).

I'm not 15 and the game did give me a scare on plenty of occasions (well, the first part anyway)

Normally I would still hope they put enough effort for a single player experience to be as great as in the first two games (as in heavy atmosphere and scary at times). But (my theory) seeing how ME3's ending was rushed and so much fail because EA wanted multi-player too (hence not enough time to make everything great) I very much doubt it.

 

[PowerYoga]

The best part of dead space is the scary, gory and frantic parts from when stuff leap out at you. Guess I won't be playing dead space 3.

 

[darkewaffle]

Bad article title, worse thread title.

"Dead Space 3 Introducing Co-op Mode"

 

[Veliko]

What was the point of this thread? From the article:

EA Games marketing boss Laura Miele told MCV that the single-player aspect of the game was what scared players the most. However, she insisted that the publisher won’t be dropping the scare tactics used in the first two games any time soon.

 

[PowerYoga]

wish I could read the article. Troll EA bash thread?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Research conducted by EA suggested that the first two Dead Space games were too scary, and so the team decided to add co-op to Dead Space 3 so players could share the fear.
EA Games marketing boss Laura Miele told MCV that the single-player aspect of the game was what scared players the most. However, she insisted that the publisher won’t be dropping the scare tactics used in the first two games any time soon.
“We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game,” she said. “The horror of Dead Space is still all there. It’s still true to its roots and no less scary, but people felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own.”
“Personally, I would rather go to scary movie with my husband rather than sit at home with the lights out watching one on my own. We’re looking for that to reach out to consumers that perhaps were not open to Dead Space 1 and 2.


There. Meh..EA just needs to quit talking. Sure, Co-op is fine, but don't make excuses...I mean..don't argue with EA..they know gamers *cough*

 

[KaOTiK]

I didn't find them scary at all lol

 

[thespyder]

I'm not 15 and the game did give me a scare on plenty of occasions (well, the first part anyway)

Normally I would still hope they put enough effort for a single player experience to be as great as in the first two games (as in heavy atmosphere and scary at times). But (my theory) seeing how ME3's ending was rushed and so much fail because EA wanted multi-player too (hence not enough time to make everything great) I very much doubt it.

There is a difference between atmospheric and Too Scary. You being 'Scared' by a horror genre game is 'Atmospheric' and what you would expect. If I didn't jump at least a few times, i would have considered the game not very well made.

To me, 'Too Scary' would mean that it gave people nightmares or caused them some other debilitating fears. And I don't think that Deadspace fell into that category at all.

And I think 15 is even a bit of a stretch. I have nephews that are 14 - 16, and they wouldn't have been phased by that stuff at 12. Just saying.

 

[Qbah]

What was the point of this thread? From the article:

EA Games marketing boss Laura Miele told MCV that the single-player aspect of the game was what scared players the most. However, she insisted that the publisher won’t be dropping the scare tactics used in the first two games any time soon.

Heard that one so many times... "We'll be changing the game, adding new cool features, revise the gameplay, blablabla - but it will still be the same game."

At this point I don't believe anything EA says - sorry, I'm just bitter after ME3's original ending.

 

[Qbah]

There is a difference between atmospheric and Too Scary. You being 'Scared' by a horror genre game is 'Atmospheric' and what you would expect. If I didn't jump at least a few times, i would have considered the game not very well made.

To me, 'Too Scary' would mean that it gave people nightmares or caused them some other debilitating fears. And I don't think that Deadspace fell into that category at all.

And I think 15 is even a bit of a stretch. I have nephews that are 14 - 16, and they wouldn't have been phased by that stuff at 12. Just saying.

Here's the thing... Following your line of thought - how can a game give you nightmares if you're teenager+? A healthy mind can tell fiction from reality. When you see a few guys with bats running for you - you're scared. People waving guns? I bet you're scared as hell too.

But playing games? Really? There can be a really nice atmosphere (nice as in scary - mysterious, something jumps at you, strange sounds with good visuals... puts you in a scary mood. But that's not real life scary.

That EA statement means for me - "We want an action game, action games sell better. Do it."

 

[PowerYoga]

You can have vivid dreams about a book you're reading, a movie you watched or a game you played. I actually have a lot of zombie dreams because I play a lot of zombie games.

People CAN get nightmares from a game or a movie. You don't necessarily have to receive trauma IRL to get nightmares...

 

[thespyder]

Here's the thing... Following your line of thought - how can a game give you nightmares if you're teenager+? A healthy mind can tell fiction from reality. When you see a few guys with bats running for you - you're scared. People waving guns? I bet you're scared as hell too.

But playing games? Really? There can be a really nice atmosphere (nice as in scary - mysterious, something jumps at you, strange sounds with good visuals... puts you in a scary mood. But that's not real life scary.

That EA statement means for me - "We want an action game, action games sell better. Do it."

Um, no. I know a 42 year old who has a very healthy mind, but gets nightmares about movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Poltergeist.

And I know quite a few adults who spend bunches of money on Psychics and the like and read their Horoscopes and rub their lucky rabbit's feet before playing the lottery. So, no. just because you have a healthy mind, doesn't mean that you can tell fact from fiction.

but if you are that type of person, Don't buy Horror games. Simple as that.

it wouldn't surprise me if that list bit played something into it. Something along the lines of "The last two games didn't quiet sell to as many gamers as we would have liked, so let's knock down the scary bits a bit. Oh, and make it multi-player. That's the BIG thing this season."

 

[Bateluer]

You can have vivid dreams about a book you're reading, a movie you watched or a game you played. I actually have a lot of zombie dreams because I play a lot of zombie games.

People CAN get nightmares from a game or a movie. You don't necessarily have to receive trauma IRL to get nightmares...

^ This.

I've played a number of games that kept me on edge playing them at night in a dark room. Its rare they'll keep me awake in fear, but they definitely influence my dreams. Thats the sign of a good game.

 

[thespyder]

^ This.

I've played a number of games that kept me on edge playing them at night in a dark room. Its rare they'll keep me awake in fear, but they definitely influence my dreams. Thats the sign of a good game.

So, do you seek these games/books/movies out just so you can get scared? Do they debilitate you such that you feel the need to get compensation from the developers? That (to me) is "Too Scary". Not just that you are a thrill seeker and sometimes have vivid dreams as a result.

 

[akahoovy]

I have faith in the development team to deliver a game as comparable, new, and fun as they have before so long as EA gives them time. They seem to know what they're doing. Granted I never played DS2's multiplayer, but it never seemed like it took away from the single player.

EA is cracking the whip though.

 

[Red Hawk]

Sensationalist, misleading thread title.

"Research conducted by EA suggested that the first two Dead Space games were too scary, and so the team decided to add co-op to Dead Space 3 so players could share the fear.

EA Games marketing boss Laura Miele told MCV that the single-player aspect of the game was what scared players the most. However, she insisted that the publisher won’t be dropping the scare tactics used in the first two games any time soon.

“We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game,” she said. “The horror of Dead Space is still all there. It’s still true to its roots and no less scary, but people felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own.”"

The research indicated that the single-player mode was too scary for a large amount of people. The conclusion EA made was NOT "it's too scary, let's tone it down". It was "let's leave it as scary as it was, but let's introduce a co-op option to make it more bearable for those who don't like it to be quite that scary." Which is fine. It's one of the better reasons I've heard for a game to shoehorn in multiplayer or co-op.

 

[moonbogg]

wish I could read the article. Troll EA bash thread?

Troll EA bash thread confirmed.

 

[Maximilian]

Hate EA hate EA hate EA...

But yeah the title is a bit misleading lol, made me think the next dead space was gonna be on facebook with all your friends or something

Love dead space, one of the few good games EA hasent screwed up, adding co-op dosent really matter much to me, as long as DS3 is as good as DS1 and 2 im satisfied. Resident evil can suck it, this is where survival horror is at.

 

[Fenixgoon]

it was scary for a little, until:

a) you figured out how to kill the monsters

b) you figured out exactly when/where monsters would spawn

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Scary is one of the main things that attracted me to this series. I hope it really is just they're adding co-op and not dumbing down the game for the masses.

 

[Nebor]

I bought both Dead Space games on Steam, and had to quit playing the 1st one after about 30 minutes. It was so scary that I found it unnerving. Haven't played it since.